The 40 metre wingsail which has been shipped in sections, was constructed by Core Builders Composites in Warkworth, near Auckland, New Zealand.

The spar sections left CBC just before Christmas and were shipped directly to San Francisco. After the ship docks in Oakland in the morning, the wing will be unloaded onto a truck, transported through the South Bay and back up to the team base at Pier 80 in San Francisco.

That will be followed by a fit-out process on the new wingsail, before it is fitted to the reconstructed USA-17, which capsized spectacularly on San Francisco Bay in October. The rebuilt USA-17 is expected to be sailing again in early February, having lost a vital four months and 22 allowed sailing days in the period to the end of January 2013.

Oracle Team USA's second AC72 will be launched in March or April, and the two 72ft catamarans are expected to sail in a Defender Selection Series which will parallel the Louis Vuitton Cup for the Challenger Selection Series starting on July 4, 2013.

As well as costing valuable sailing and testing time, the capsize of USA-17 cost Oracle Team USA one of their three allowed wingsails, and they will have just one wingsail per boat through to the end of the 34th America's Cup.

by Richard Gladwell - 2:14 AM Tue 8 Jan 2013 GMT

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